Thomas MacMillan File Photo
Bekhrad.
Chatham Square neighbors filled a City Hall meeting room to protest a developer’s plan to put RV and boat storage on riverfront property on Front Street.
They told City Plan Commissioners Thursday night that approving Fereshteh Bekhrad’s plan for the storage lot at 213 Front St. would mean leaving the property in disrepair long term and destroy community around the river.
Commissioners decided to continue the public hearing for the special permit to next month and did not take a vote.
Bekhrad said she plans to put the storage lot on the property just to make money temporarily, as she gathers resources to eventually build senior housing there.
Aliyya Swaby Photo
Willett.
Owner of Riverfront Development LLC, Bekhrad had invested $8 million into developments throughout the city and $1.8 million into the project on Front Street, said her lawyer, John Lambert. She seeks permission to turn the area next to her building into storage for 12 boats and 12 RVs. Though the City Plan’s approval of the permit would allow storage on the lot indefinitely, Bekhrad said she considers it a temporary use.
About 30 years ago, Oyster Cove Partnership planned to build condos on that property, but did not finish the project. Bekhrad bought it in 2006 after it had been in disuse for 10 years, Lambert said.
“It won’t decrease property values,” he said although neighbors fear it will affect the feel of the area and increase the level of traffic on nearby streets.
The property is currently approved for residential use, which would mean even more traffic than a storage lot could generate, he said.
Bekhrad has already built a few projects on the Quinnipiac River and said she would eventually create senior housing on the lot.
Lambert.
Eleven neighbors argued against commissioners approving the plan. Fair Haven Alder Santiago Berrios-Bones offered to mediate between critical neighbors and the developers before City Plan makes any decisions.
Many who spoke said they worried Bekhrad would not repair the bulkhead, or seawall, at the water, which is in poor condition. The Department of Environmental Protection granted a certificate of permission allowing the developer to fix the wall, which was renewed till April 2017.
Evelyn Willett, at 225C Front St., was part of the original plan to put condos on the property. She said they were happy when Bekhrad decided to purchase the land. But since then, the property has “become overgrown,” a home to rodents and dying vegetation, she said.
Oyster Cove Condominium Association offered to fix the bulkhead but was turned down, she said.
Nicole Micklich, a lawyer representing the condo association, urged commissioners not to approve the special permit, because the property has not been maintained. The soil is still contaminated with lead and arsenic, killing off vegetation. Notice for the storage lot project was not given to some neighbors on the street.
Micklich said it was unlikely Bekhrad could repair the bulkhead while the boats and RVs were on the property.
Lambert responded that the bulkhead repair is a concern not of City Plan Commissioners, but rather of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). The developer still has a little less than a year to complete that repair. DEEP’s certificate of permission allows them to do that repair, but does not require them to.
Other neighbors said they worry that the lot would affect community efforts to build up the area around the Quinnipiac. Crystal Manning, who has lived on Front Street for 14 years, said she “spent the last decade working to improve my neighborhood” and heard about Bekhrad’s new project only on Wednesday.
The lot is “not a good fit” with the residential neighborhood, she said. “We don’t want it to go back to an industrial neighborhood.”
Lambert said Bekhrad emailed Chatham Square Neighborhood Association members in January notifying them about her plans, but got no response.
Lee Cruz, who manages the association’s communications, said he did not receive any notification from Bekhrad about this project.
Leonardi.
Peter Leonardi expressed concerns about whether the storage lot would be a fire hazard, since the vehicles would not necessarily be drained of gasoline beforehand. The property is a “mess,” he said, and the project would not fix that.
Lambert called many of neighbors’ concerns about the safety of the plan unfounded. City Plan staff did not raise the issue of the fire risk.
City Plan Director Karyn Gilvarg said she will look into whether the necessary bulkhead repair should be taken into account by the commissioners or staff at next month’s meeting.